


Big Half-Blood 6

by DoctorBookworm



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: : ), Gen, im gonna WRECK the hamabros
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-22 11:38:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3727438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorBookworm/pseuds/DoctorBookworm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiro and Tadashi Hamada never wanted to be half-bloods. But after being claimed and brought to Camp Half-Blood, the two brothers are sent on a deadly quest, destined for failure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Friendly Hypogriff Destroys Aunt Cass' Car

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just writing this for fun! It's really only for my purpose, as I've been thinking about this au for a month or two now. I hope you enjoy this, though! (There's only like, one minor spoiler for Percy Jackson and the Olympians in here? I didn't include many of the main characters because it's not a crossover but instead an au, sooooo...)

Hiro Hamada never wanted to be a half-blood. It was never something he’d asked for or needed in his life, and he would’ve taken it away if it meant his life was normal. But it didn’t work like that. He was stuck as a half-blood, never able to live a normal life.

At fourteen, that was when everything started to come together. Hiro was naturally a very smart kid, but his problem was that he couldn’t pay attention. Both he and Tadashi were always messing with something, bring occupied with something, sound anything but sitting still.

And he had noticed something else that was strange, too. Ever since he was little, he seemed to have some strange connection to fire. Birthday candles? He could light them if he thought about it hard enough. Smores? Hiro always had the perfect marshmallow before he put it above the fire. The weirdest thing? Hiro would occasionally feel his hands heat up, and would look down to see a finger or two ablaze.

Nonsense. Hiro was just imagining things. That’s what every therapist and doctor he went to said.

But Tadashi didn’t believe that. He always told Hiro that he was special, but he had to be older to find out how. This always made Hiro angry. What did he mean by that? Why couldn’t be just tell him now? Tadashi was just trying to make Hiro feel better, nothing more.

“I’ll take you to my camp one day.” Tadashi said gleefully, as if camp was some kind of haven. If anything, it was the one thing that made it worse for Hiro. Even though he’d never been there, the camp Tadashi went to was the only thing Tadashi seemed to care about anymore. No more hanging out with his brother or aunt, it was always “I’m going somewhere with my camp friends.” or “I’m busy at camp.”

Ever since his first year at the consuming camp, Tadashi seemed to be more distant to Hiro. They weren’t as close anymore, which made Hiro sad more than anything. He wanted his brother back to normal.

Fed up with his constant absence, on the first day of summer, Hiro decided to follow Tadashi to his camp. Sneaking into the trunk, Hiro was as quiet as a dead person as he heard Tadashi start Aunt Cass’ car.

The road to the camp seemed to be the bumpiest one on Earth. Bump, bump, bump was the only thing Hiro heard and felt as he tried his hardest to keep himself steady in the small trunk. Finally, the car stopped, and Hiro let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Hiro had practiced many times how to undo car trunks from the inside in case of emergencies (hey, you never know!), so it was easy to quietly pick the little lock and roll out of the prison. Breathing heavily, Hiro lay on the ground for a second, trying to gasp. He looked around for Tadashi, and saw him walking towards an entrance.

The entrance was made out of stone and looked like it was made in the BC’s. Hiro looked at the top to see something that he’d never expected to see: clearly written words.

Both Hiro and Tadashi, despite their intelligence, had horrible dyslexia alongside ADHD. But now, as Hiro stared at this old and weary arch, he could read it clearly. Camp Half-Blood was written across the top.

Camp Half-Blood? What kind of name for a camp was that? Well, Hiro wasn’t the best candidate to judge, but still. It sounded like a kind of blood donation station, not a summer camp.

Tadashi turned around just as Hiro stood up and brushed off his knees. His face shifted from happiness to shock in a split second. “Hiro?” He said, his voice hiding anger and fear. “W-what’re you doing here?”

Hiro felt like a deer in headlights. He probably looked like one, too, because he didn’t hide the fear in his face. “Uh—” He struggled to get the words out. “I was just—”

“Did you follow me here?” Tadashi said angrily, walking over to his little brother.

Hiro backed up steadily. “N-no, I was just—” His heels hit a rock, and he fell back onto the grass.

Tadashi, instead of helping him up, looked at him and said, “How did you get here?”

Hiro stood up and said, “I got in the trunk.”

Tadashi grabbed Hiro’s sleeve, pulling him back to the car. “Unbelievable. I’ll let Aunt Cass deal with you, not me.”

Hiro slapped Tadashi’s arm away. “Wait, what?” He said, looking back at the entrance to the camp. “You’re not even gonna show me your camp?”

Tadashi looked flustered. “No way!” He gruffed. “You’re not old enough yet!”

Hiro rolled his eyes. “At least let me see it!” He complained.

Tadashi’s eyes shifted around, as if he was scared or looking for something. “We need to hurry and bring you back home, Hiro. I’m not gonna deal with you right now.” He said, uncharacteristically frightened.

“What could go wrong?” Hiro asked, ignoring his brother’s sudden scared movements.

Suddenly, there was a large crack from behind Hiro. He brushed it aside, because it was probably just a bunny or something.

Tadashi got increasingly more nervous. “Hiro, come on, we have to leave!” He said, his voice now hushed.

“Why’re you so quiet all of the sudden? Are you afraid your camp friends will see your lame brother or something?” Hiro argued, clearly annoyed.

There was a large rustle in the bushes, and Hiro turned around just in time to see a giant monster behind him.

Tadashi grabbed Hiro’s arm. “Run!” He yelled, pulling his brother with him to the car.

Tadashi threw Hiro into the passenger’s seat and ran around the other side to get into the driver’s seat. Hiro looked out the mirror and saw the creature, sprinting towards the car.

The creature was like a weird kindergarten drawing. It was a hybrid of different animals: the head and wings of an eagle, the back of a horse, the claws of a bird. It’s red eyes stared at Hiro as he screamed, “What _is_ that?!”

Tadashi burst out, “Hypogriff. Buckle up so we can leave!”

As Hiro slipped his fingers on the seatbelt’s grip, the hypogriff slammed into the right side of the car, sending Hiro zooming towards Tadashi. The two brothers collided, and Tadashi yelled, “Come on!”

The hypogriff jumped onto the front of the car, crushing the engine. It screeched into the shattered windshield, causing both brothers to scream.

Tadashi desperately searched for something in his pocket as the creature pecked at the windshield, trying to get in. Hiro started to panic. What kind of death would this be? He thought to himself. ‘Brothers both killed by mythical creature that shouldn’t even exist.’ What a headline.

Tadashi pulled out his keys. “I got this, Hiro! Just… don’t tell anybody.”

Hiro was beyond confused. How were keys supposed to help? The hypogriff stuck it’s head through the bursted windowsill, trying to peck at Tadashi.

Tadashi spun his keys, and suddenly the keys shifted into two swords, which he wielded in his hands. He slashed at the hypogriff, stabbing its eyes with one sword and cutting at the neck at the other. "What in the--" Hiro stared at the swords that Tadashi weld in both awe and confusion. How was that possible? Two swords condensed into mere keys? Hiro must've been seeing things.

The hypogriff reared up, lifting the car into the air. The two brothers both yelled as they were flung into the air.

As soon as the car landed, Hiro felt something shift. He couldn’t explain it, but somehow he knew. He yelled, “The car’s gonna explode!”

Tadashi looked at him. “What?” He yelled back. “How do you know?”

Hiro tried to think of an explanation as the hypogriff stuck it’s head in farther. ” I just… know, okay?” He felt the time trickle down until the car would explode. “We have to get out now!” Hiro demanded.

Tadashi looked at his little brother. “We’ll get attacked by the hypogriff if we get out!” He cried. “I can kill him, Hiro! It’ll just take a while!”

“We don’t have a while!” Hiro griped. “It’ll explode within a minute!”

But Tadashi was reluctant to stay. “We could die if we go out there!”

Hiro looked at his brother pleadingly. “It would be suicide to stay in here!Just… trust me for once!” His voice cried as he felt the time ticking down into the seconds.

_Ten, nine, eight…_

Tadashi looked at the hypogriff and then back at his brother. “I trust you.”

_…seven, six…_

“Hurry!” Hiro screamed, pushing his brother out of the door. “Get out, get out!”

_…five, four, three…_

Tadashi slipped out of the car. “Hiro, get out!” He yelled. Hiro tried to shake loose, but his leg was stuck in the smashed front of the car.

_…two…_

“ _Go!_ ” Hiro screamed. 

_…one…_

Tadashi was at least a few yards away. There was no time. Hiro closed his eyes and shakily let out a breath. I should’ve just stayed home. Hiro thought as he gave up trying to escape. 

_I’m sorry, Tadashi—_

_Boom._


	2. Catching Up with the Girls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda left the first chapter on a cliffhanger... whoops! Well, I had written the first three chapters all at the same time, so I wasn't sure at first where to break it until suddenly the "first chapter" was about 5,000 words long. Haha... had to break it somewhere!

“Hiro, wake up!”

Hiro was sore all over. He felt like he had been run over by a bus. His throat burned and his leg that was previously stuck in the wreck was throbbing. Is this what dying felt like? It wasn’t very fun, then…

“Hiro!”

But if he was dead, why did he hear Tadashi? Tadashi was too far away from the explosion to die. Hiro opened his eyes, and his vision adjusted to the brightness.

There were dozens of people staring at him as he lay on the ground. He saw Tadashi leaning down next to him, but he didn’t know anybody else.

Hiro sat up. “Where—”

He was cut off from Tadashi, who hugged him so tightly that Hiro thought he was going to have his eyes pop out.

“Don’t you dare scare me like that again, idiot.” Tadashi said, tightening his grip.

“Ack!” Hiro choked, and Tadashi let go apologetically. “What…? Am I…dead?”

Tadashi smiled a little, and let out a small sigh. “You better not be. You almost scared _me_ to death, though.”

Hiro rubbed his forehead. “But I don’t understand. The explosion… I should’ve died.”

Tadashi shook his head. “It’s hard to explain…” He muttered.

Hiro looked around. All of the people who were staring at him had the same look of pity, like they knew how he felt. “I don’t….”

Tadashi helped him up, even though his legs were wobbly. “Where am I?” Hiro asked.

A murmur went across the small crowd. Suddenly, a girl broke through the crowd with long blonde hair and pink glasses.

“Tadashi!” She beamed, then looked down from Tadashi to Hiro. “Oh, gods, what happened to him?”

Hiro hadn’t looked at himself until the girl mentioned it. His hands were covered with soot, and his shirt was burned in several places, along with his pants. His shoes were completely gone, leaving just the blackened socks. He felt his hair, which was also slightly singed at a few edges. Hiro felt his face get hot.

Tadashi nervously laughed. “Hey, Honey Lemon, uh—”

Honey Lemon made her way over to Hiro and was looking at him like he was a gem. She gasped, “Tadashi, is this your younger brother?”

“Yeah, we kinda—”

“There was an incident with a… whatever you call it and an explosion that I somehow survived.” Hiro finished. “Right now I’m just completely confused on what’s going on, honestly.” He said in a smart-elleck tone.

Honey Lemon stared at Tadashi. “You didn’t tell him?” She gawked.

Tadashi looked away. “Not yet, I haven’t really had the chance to tell him.”

Honey Lemon looked back at Hiro. “He probably thinks he’s some kind of alien or something!” She complained, wrapping her arm around Hiro’s shoulders. “He doesn’t even know where he is!”

Hiro stopped her. “Hold on. Tell me what?”

Tadashi was about to say something, but Honey Lemon butted in. “You’re not normal, but neither are any of us!”

Hiro sighed. “I know I’m not normal. Is this one of those detention camps?” He asked. “Or is this a prank? Tadashi?” He called, asking for help.

Tadashi tried to collect his thoughts. “What she means is… you and me, we’re both— and everyone at Camp Half-Blood is kinda— uh…”

“Have you ever met your dad?” Honey Lemon asked.

Hiro shook his head. “No, he’s—”

“You and Tadashi’s dad is actually a Greek god. You know those myths? About Hephaestus? That’s your dad.”

There was silence for a second before Hiro did the strangest thing ever; he laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding, right?” He said.

But she wasn’t kidding. Her eyes were staring at Hiro so seriously he felt like he was in court. “No, I’m not, actually. You, Tadashi, and all of us are what you call demigods! Half human, half god! Isn’t that awesome?” She said excitedly.

Hiro pinched the area between his eyebrows. “Hold on. So you’re telling me that all those Greek myths are real and that I’m a part of them?”

Honey Lemon nodded. “Haven’t you ever seem weird things? Had weird things happen to you? And people just say you’re seeing things? That’s pretty much the norm here.”

Hiro looked once again at the people who were surrounding him. They all smiled, as if it made them happy to see Hiro so confused. Tadashi gazed at him, as if he was remembering something. Probably his first time at the camp, his experience with being told that he was a demigod.

The campers all looked at Hiro as he smiled and joked, “When do I get to start camp?”

———

Hiro took it in very quickly. He started to make the connections in his head almost instantaneously. Tadashi brought Hiro to the Hephaestus cabin, all the while explaining some of Hiro’s questions he had.

“So, are all Hephaestus kids immune to fire like me?” Hiro pondered.

“No, actually, it’s more rare to have fire powers.” Tadashi explained. “There’s only been a few kids in the past, I don’t know, 50 years who’ve had it?”

“Oh.” Was that jealousy in Tadashi’s voice?

“We’ll have to get Aunt Cass a new car. Oh gods, there’s nothing left of it.” Tadashi worried.

Hiro felt guilty even though he didn’t do much of anything. “She’s gonna kill me when I get home.”

Tadashi laughed. “You weren’t supposed to really come to camp until you were sixteen, like I was when I first came.” He said. “I’ve always wanted to bring you here, but I knew it was better that you wait.”

Hiro nodded. “I can see why.” He said, gesturing to the camp. “I mean, look at this place! It’s awesome!”

Tadashi smirked. “I know, right?” He looked around proudly, like he owned the camp. “It’s so amazing here, Hiro. You’ll love it. You’ve finally got a place to fit in.”

Hiro sighed happily, looking at his new Camp Half-Blood shirt which had been given to him. “So, I’m a camper now?” He asked gleefully.

Tadashi nodded. “You’ll be in the Hephaestus cabin, just like I am! We’ll be able to work on stuff together, train together–”

Suddenly, somebody bumped into Tadashi. It was a short girl, her hair black with a purple streak. “Looks like you finally showed up.” She said, smirking. She looked behind Tadashi and saw Hiro, who was staring at her. “Is that your little brother that you’re talking about?”

Tadashi smiled. “Hiro, this is Gogo. She’s a daughter of Ares, the–”

“I don’t need a formal introduction.” Gogo snapped. She walked over to Hiro, holding her hand out. “Nice to meet you, kid.”

Hiro shook her hand. “Uh, nice to meet you, too.”

Gogo let go, putting her hands on her hips. “Are you the kid who was in the explosion?” She inquired, looking at him closer.

“H-how did you know about that?” Hiro blurted, defensive. “That only happened like, an hour or two ago!”

Gogo rolled her eyes. “News can spread fast, kid. I’m sure half these demigods see you as ‘that kid who survived the explosion’ now.”

Hiro felt a bit embarrassed, but he tried not to show it. Tadashi chimed in, “Where are Fred and Wasabi?”

“Fred’s off somewhere playing a prank, I bet. Wasabi still hasn’t shown up. You know him, always late to camp, always late to leave.” Gogo readjusted the backpack she had on, which was filled to the brim with different boxing shorts and weapons. “I’ll see you at the bonfire tonight, I guess.” She said, and then was off.

Hiro pondered. “Bonfire?”

“There’s a bonfire pretty much every night at camp. Well, except when a camper dies.” Tadashi mentioned.

Hiro’s smile faded. “What?” 

Tadashi looked away. “Unfortunately, there’s a lot of demigods that die every year. First time I came, there was, as they said, ‘only’ one that died. Last year, there was about three. It’s…dangerous to be a half-blood.” Tadashi’s voice sounded far off, like he wasn’t in the conversation anymore.

Hiro didn’t know what to say. “Have… any of your friends died before?” Why would you ask that? He scolded himself.

Tadashi frowned. “I consider most of these campers my friends, after all. So, yeah, they have…”

Hiro felt guilty even though he didn’t do anything. He was sorta flushed, like he had walked into the wrong bathroom or something. “I’m sorry.” He said, even though that didn’t really cut it.

Tadashi shook his head. “Sorry, it’s… it’s fine.” He stammered.

There was a heavy silence for a minute before Tadashi spoke up. “Come on. It’s time for dinner, let’s go to the mess hall.” He said, leading Hiro. 

The two ate their dinner, and soon it was time for the bonfire. Apollo had a small speech, congratulating a few of the new demigods that had made their way to camp over the week, and then the Hermes cabin handed out the smores ingredients.

Hiro sat by Tadashi, who was sitting by four other demigods. The two girls Hiro had met earlier– Gogo and Honey Lemon, a guy with a long face and stringy hair, and a tall guy with chestnut skin and dreads. They were all catching up after the break between summers, meanwhile Hiro was thinking about the day he’d had.

Tadashi had told him so much about being a half-blood that it was cluttering his mind. There was so much to think about. He was trying to make sense of it all when one person came into his head: Aunt Cass.

“Hey, Tadashi.” Hiro interrupted quietly. “Do you have my phone? I wanna call Aunt Cass.”

At the word phone, the four demigods stared at Tadashi. “No,” he answered. “we can’t have electronics like that at camp. They attract monsters. But you can Iris message her.” He dug into his pocket and handed Hiro a golden coin.

“Iris message?” He asked, staring at the coin which was warm in his hands. “What’s that?”

Tadashi stood up, grabbed a nearby water bottle, and motioned away. “C'mere, I’ll show you.” Hiro stood up and followed Tadashi away from the campfire.

Tadashi poked a small hole into the top of the water bottle with his keys and handed it to Hiro. “Spray this.” He said.

“Okay?” He replied, confused. He handed Tadashi the golden coin and clenched the water bottle, and mist sprayed into the air.

Tadashi held up the gold coin. “O Goddess, here is my offering.” He chanted, throwing the coin into the mist. Hiro expected the coin to come out of the other end, but instead it seemed to disappear into the water bottle’s mist.

“Show me Cass Hamada.” Tadashi said. The mist suddenly shifted, and a picture if Aunt Cass showed up in the place of it.

Cass was sitting on the couch, reading one of her favorite magazines. She looked distressed, her eyes puffy and her nails almost gone. She looked up from her magazine in shock when the picture first appeared, and when she saw Hiro and Tadashi she went through many emotions. Happiness, anger, shock. Her face settled on happiness, and she smiled. “Oh my goodness!” She said, putting the magazine away and walking towards the misty image. “There you are, Hiro! You scared me half top death! Where are you two? And what happened to your hair, Hiro?”

Hiro felt the singed edge of his hair on the right side. It was a small singe, probably not noticeable to passersby, but to Aunt Cass it was a red flag. Hiro nervously laughed. “Uh, long story.” He said, rubbing his neck.

Tadashi and Hiro took turns sharing their sides of the story and seeing how Aunt Cass would react. Not to Hiro’s surprise, she went through many ranges of emotions. She got angry at Hiro when he told her that he snuck out to follow Tadashi. She felt her heartbeat when Tadashi told her about the hypogriff. And Cass started to tear up when they both explained about the explosion.

Tadashi also started to get choked up. He grabbed Hiro’s shoulders and hugged them as he recalled, “I… I thought he was _dead_. I was so scared… thinking that I had killed my little brother. I kept shouting his name, but there was no response. Some of the other campers came out once they saw the explosion and asked me what happened, but I was mostly too distraught to answer, I just wanted to see Hiro okay and alive.

“But once the fire was cleared, I saw him, but he was completely uninjured, thank the gods. I wouldn't be able to--" Tadashi cleared his throat and looked at his little brother sternly. " _Gods_ , Hiro, never do that again.” Tadashi finished, giving his little brother a full-on hug.

Aunt Cass wiped away a small tear on her face. “I’m just… happy you’re both alive and okay.” She said. “Hiro, I’m sorry I hid this from you for so long. Tadashi wanted to tell you, but I just wanted to keep you safe and sound. Maybe you would’ve enjoyed being a half-blood more than pretend to be a normal kid.”

Hiro shook his head. “No, Aunt Cass, you did the right thing. I’m happy now, that’s all that matters, right?” He smiled.

Aunt Cass smiled too. “My boys.” She said, reminiscing. “Your mother would be _so_ proud.”

Hiro wouldn’t know if she would be proud. He barely remembered what she looked like, and even then that was mostly based off of photographs. He also knew what Aunt Cass and Tadashi told him; that his mom was like him. Always inventing and thinking up new things, very enthusiastic about robots. She was smart, too, and crazy about what she loved.

Somedays, Hiro wished he could meet her again.

Tadashi looked at his wristwatch. “We should probably be heading back to the bonfire. They’re almost finished, and after that it’s time for bed.”

Aunt Cass agreed. “It is getting late for you two, isn’t it? Well, I guess this is goodnight!”

“‘night!” The two boys said, and Tadashi wiped away the mist, clearing away Aunt Cass’ smiling face.

The two brothers sat back down at the campfire, both happy from their aunt’s approval.


	3. The Oracle Has A Death Glare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be adding a chapter every Friday from now until I finish it! I may have to skip certain Fridays where I was busy with finals and such, but otherwise I'll try to stay as consistent as possible for this fic.

It was the middle of the summer before everything fell apart.

Hiro had gotten into a pattern at camp. Wake up, have breakfast with his friends, train, build or do whatever, bonfire, go to bed. It sounded simple, but the routine was super fun.

The day had appeared normal, following routine just like every other day. Lunch was when it started to shift.

“Hey, Hiro.” Tadashi nudged his little brother’s elbow. “Oracle Lady’s staring at you.”

“What?” Hiro looked up, and sure enough, three tables away, the girl they had called the Oracle was staring daggers into him. From what he’d heard, that was anything but good. “Why’s she staring at me?” Hiro uttered under his breath so that only Tadashi could hear.

“I dunno. Maybe she’s some monster in disguise who hunts only on you.” Tadashi said sarcastically.

“This is serious!” Hiro pushed Tadashi on the arm. “I heard that she only does that before she gives prophecies!”

“Gods, Hiro, you’re just overreacting.” Tadashi rolled his eyes and took a bite of his sandwich. “Haven’t you ever just spaced out accidentally on somebody?”

But Hiro was unconvinced. Her eyes felt piercing, like they weren’t staring at Hiro, but instead in something inside him. The girl started to stand up, her eyes still targeted on him.

Hiro panicked. “Tadashi!” He half-whispered. “She’s coming over here!”

When Hiro looked back, the redhead was only inches away from his face. He let out a yelp in surprise and backed up.

“Two brothers–” The girl fell back, her eyes pure green. Hiro nearly screamed as she continued in a haunting voice.

“ _Two brothers of Hephaestus must travel off land, one will stay with the woman of sand, the monster of fire to kill or befriend, a story that comes that comes to a brutal end_.”

The girl stopped shivering and her eyes went back to normal, and she sat up. She spoke in a normal, dazed voice. “Wh–”

Hiro didn’t listen. He was thinking about what she said. Hiro knew about prophecies, he’d been told about them. That sounded just like one to him. And it wasn’t very fun to hear.

He tried to connect it. Two brothers of Hephaestus? That was him and Tadashi. A woman of sand? That was a mystery. But the third line truly scared him.

'The monster of fire to kill or befriend.' He felt his hands about to burst into flames and tried to die them down. It’s not me, he tried to convince himself.

But it was no use. His fingers were set ablaze and he started to hyperventilate. _Monster of fire…_ he replayed in his mind. _I really_ am _a monster_.

Tadashi put his hand on Hiro’s shoulder, causing Hiro to flinch. What if he burned Tadashi accidentally? Tadashi seemed to ignore that, saying, “It’s okay, Hiro. You can calm down.”

Hiro took a deep breath, trying to steady his heartbeat. He had been practicing over his time at camp to try and control his fire powers, especially when he was panicky and distressed, but now wasn’t working. He looked at Tadashi nervously. Tadashi returned the glance with a determined glare. 

Hiro felt his breathing go back to normal, and he looked back to see that his hands were back to normal. That was a relief. He felt drained, like he had just ran a 5k or something, but he looked back at Tadashi, who was relieved as well. 

The oracle girl looked like she had regained her memories of the past two minutes, as she stood up and awkwardly glanced at Hiro and Tadashi before she went back over to Apollo.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Apollo began. “But that sure did sound like a prophecy to me! Of course, I would know! Oh, how the–”

The oracle girl (Rachel, her name was) stopped him before he could continue. “Well, I guess we’ll have to solve that when it comes up, won’t we? We don’t need to worry about it now.”

A daughter of Hephaestus stood up from the table. “This does matter! The prophecy clearly talked about two brothers of Hephaestus and someone dying. I think that’s important now.”

Hiro and Tadashi exchanged glances as another kid of Hephaestus stood up. “Yeah!” They said. “You can’t just brush this aside!”

Apollo frowned. “You Hephaestus kids are so pushy. Fine, we’ll talk about it at the bonfire tonight.” He brushed the topic aside.

Rachel shook her head. “It’s fine, Apollo, we can just talk about it now.” Once again, her eyes met to Hiro and Tadashi.

Apollo sat down at the Hephaestus cabin’s table. “Fine, whatever. I guess my haikus can wait.” He looked around at the campers. “Two brothers of Hephaestus, huh? Any of you guys that want to volunteer?”

There were only ten campers in the Hephaestus cabin, and all of them stared immediately at Tadashi and Hiro. Rachel, who had made her way over to the table, also glared at the two brothers. 

Apollo took that literally. “So, you two will volunteer for the quest?”

Everything had happened so suddenly he had barely been able to register it. Five minutes ago, Hiro was eating lunch, now he and Tadashi were off on some deadly quest? 

Tadashi, however, nodded in agreement to Apollo’s question. “We will.” He said.

Hiro stared at his brother in shock. Why would you say that? He wanted to yell. Are you trying to get us killed? 

Apollo smiled. “Great!” He cheered. “We’ll get you guys off by tomorrow!” 

Hiro finally budged in. “Woah, wait.” He said. “Tomorrow?!”

“Uh, yes, that’s what I just said, kid.”

“No, I-I mean–” Hiro felt flustered, trying to make up the right words.

Apollo rolled his eyes. “Look, you and your brother have been training since the beginning of the summer, right? That’s more than enough time of practice if you ask me.”

Hiro sighed. He didn’t want to anger a god, after all. He looked at Tadashi, who’s eyes were wide and his lips were quivering. He was just as scared as Hiro was. Then why did he volunteer in the first place?

Apollo slammed his hands on the table. “Lunch dismissed!” He yelled. The campers dissipated into their separate groups.

Tadashi grabbed Hiro’s sleeve and said, “I know you’re angry at me for volunteering us for the quest. I just knew that it was about us, you know?”

Hiro nodded. “I’m just a bit… scared. I mean, I’ve never really had to fight that many monsters, and I know that quests are always full of them. What if I–”

“You’ll be fine. I know you’ll be able to finish this quest.”

“But… the last line. About the ‘story coming to a brutal end.’ That means… death right?” Hiro worried. He knew that when he got nervous, his sentences made less and less sense.

“Well, not exactly.” Tadashi tried to consider.

Hiro continued what he was saying. “And about the…the ‘monster of fire.’ What—What if–”

“Hiro, you need to calm down.” Tadashi stated almost bitterly. 

“But what if it’s–it’s talking about me?” He yelled.

“Hiro, calm _down_!” Tadashi yelled. “Talk when you can actually _speak_!”

As soon as Hiro looked back at Tadashi, he knew that Tadashi regretted what he said. Still, Hiro felt like he had just been stabbed in the chest. Tadashi had said some stuff to him before, some stuff that hurt. But this felt so much worse than he could’ve remembered Tadashi ever saying. 

Hiro’s eyes burned and his chest swelled as he looked back up at his brother, whom of which was staring at him painfully. Hiro couldn’t get words off of his tongue, he just ran in the other direction, away from his brother.

“Hiro, wait!” Tadashi called out, but Hiro didn’t pay attention. He ran off, not wanting anything to do with his brother. He heard Tadashi calling out for him, but he kept running towards the Long Island Sound.

——

“I’m sorry.”

Hiro sat on the sand of the beach, staring out into the horizon. Some time had passed since Hiro had run off from camp, but he wasn’t sure how much. An hour? Two? It didn’t matter.

He was probably overreacting. Tadashi didn’t mean what he said. He knew Hiro sometimes had problems with his speech when he was nervous. Tadashi was just upset and probably scared, too. 

But still, as much as Hiro told himself this, he didn’t want to go back to camp.

He threw pebbles across the water, watching them ripple and then disappear into the ocean. He turned back at Tadashi, who was standing there, looking at him from a few feet away.

“I said some stuff I shouldn’t have said, honestly.” Tadashi apologized, shuffling his feet across the sand. “I… I’m sorry.”

Hiro stood up, dropping the pebbles in his hand. “I’m sorry for overreacting.” He said. “I just… get nervous, and you know that.” 

Tadashi nodded. “I know, I was just upset and I snapped. Spare the ‘horrible brother’ remarks for later.” 

Hiro smiled. “I don’t have to make remarks. You are a pretty crappy brother, after all!” He laughed, hinting to Tadashi that he was just joking.

Tadashi joined in the laughter. As it died down, he changed his tone, saying, “I really am sorry, though, Hiro. I didn’t mean to say such mean stuff about your–”

“It’s fine, bro.” Hiro eased. “I know you were just upset.”

Tadashi nodded. “All good?” He asked.

“All good.” Hiro replied. They always asked that after an argument or a fight since they were little children. It had become a habit over the years, something they’d learned to do. 

"Come on.” Tadashi motioned towards the pathway in the trees. “Let’s go back to camp.”

Hiro was still reluctant to go back, but he followed his brother, away from the quiet of the Long Island Sound.


	4. The Group Says Their Goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry that I didn't post a chapter last week! I've been very busy with finals, as well as a few concerts for orchestra and other stuff! I've been writing in my free time, but this came out a week late. I'll still try to stick to every Friday after this!

The bonfire was a bit quieter than usual in Tadashi’s group of friends. Hiro had joined in to the friend group and had become good friends with everyone in it. But everybody was a bit on edge.They all knew how dangerous quests were. Campers died, or they would start acting differently. Most campers that went on quests returned with scars, both mentally and physically. Tadashi knew the dangers, but he could tell that the quest was specifically about Hiro and him.

Hiro was still anxious about the prophecy. He didn’t want to talk to Tadashi more about it, but he was trying to put the pieces together to understand what any of it could mean.

The first line was easy. ‘Two brothers of Hephaestus must travel off land.’ Chiron had told Tadashi and him as much as he could about the quest, and that included their destination: Hatteras Island. They would have to travel off boat to get there.

The second line shook Hiro up a bit. ‘One will stay with the woman of sand.’ What could that possibly mean? That either he or Tadashi would stay on the island? He didn’t want to think about having to leave Tadashi on some remote island off of North Carolina.

The third line was also haunting. ‘The monster of fire to kill or befriend.’ Who would the monster of fire kill? The woman of sand? Hiro looked at his hands. Could it be referring to him?The last line was what made Hiro so anxious. ‘A story that comes to a brutal end.’ Often in prophecies, as he’d learned, ‘end’ usually meant death. Hiro tried to reason that maybe it wasn’t talking about him or Tadashi. Maybe it was talking about the sand lady they probably had to fight.

Tadashi bumped his elbow, breaking his train of thought before it could get any worse. “You wanna talk to Aunt Cass before we go in the morning?” He asked.

Hiro shook his head. “She’ll just make me not want to leave. You can go talk to her, I’ll just be right here.”

Tadashi nodded and walked off, leaving Hiro with the rest of the group.

Honey Lemon, who was closest to Hiro, scooted over to him. “So,” she said, nervously. “Are you excited about tomorrow?”

Hiro wasn’t sure how to answer, so be just shrugged. “No big deal.” He lied.

Wasabi smiled. “The little guy’s nervous.”

“I’m not nervous!” Hiro defended.

Honey Lemon giggled. “I’m sure you and Tadashi will be just fine!”

Fred chimed in. “Don’t worry, Hiro. The past few quests have been successful, there’s nothing to worry about. You’ll be back before prank week!”

Hiro couldn’t help but catch the happiness that was floating in the group. Maybe he would be fine. Whenever he and Tadashi would come back from they quest, maybe they would have some big party.

Gogo huffed. “If a quest of more than three wasn’t unlucky, we’d go with you, Hiro. But you know the rules. Only three or less ever return.”

Hiro nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’ll make sure to bring extra drachmas to Iris message you guys, though. Well, when we aren’t busy with monsters and such.”

Honey nodded, smiling sheepishly. “We’ll be waiting for you, no matter what happens.”

Fred, his mouth full of marshmallow, put his arm around Hiro. “And don’t worry about spending all your money!” He laughed. “I’m sure I can find some… loose change around cabins.”

Wasabi pushed Fred gently, but he still fell onto the grass. “Dude!” He griped. “You can’t go stealing people’s spare change!”

Fred got back on his seat next to Wasabi, rolling his eyes. Hiro laughed as the two bickered, and soon enough Tadashi had come back.

“Are you guys fighting over Fred’s stealing again?” Tadashi sighed. “Wasabi, just let him get in trouble. He’ll get what’s coming for him, I’m sure.”

Fred looked at Tadashi. “Are you saying you’re hoping I’ll get caught?” He sarcastically folded his arms and pouted his lip. “I thought we were friends!”

The entire group laughed and enjoyed their night, eating marshmallows and smores and lightening up the air before the brothers left tomorrow.

——

“Hiro, wake up, you sleepyhead.” 

Hiro groaned and sat up. He looked out the window, but it was pitch black. What time were they supposed to wake up again? _Not_ midnight? He rubbed the grogginess out of his eyes as they tried to adjust to the brightness of the flashlight Tadashi was using. He could’ve easily turned on the lights, but that would’ve woken up the other campers. 

Tadashi war already dressed and ready to go, so Hiro rushed to put on his clothes, grab his bag, and head out the door. Hiro remembered that his friends told him that they wanted to be awake when they left, so when he headed out the door, he turned to the Hermes cabin first. Tadashi grabbed his jacket sleeve and asked, "Where are you going? We're leaving camp that way." He pointed behind him to the archway above.

"Honey, Gogo, Fred, and Wasabi said they wanted to see us before we left." Hiro answered.

Tadashi shook his head. "We're not going to wake them up at 4 in the morning. We'll just worry them, and they won't be able to sleep afterwards."

"What? But they told us to!"

Tadashi was still reluctant. "I said my goodbyes last night, I don't need to just say them again."

Hiro grabbed Tadashi's sleeve, pulling it towards the cabins. "They're our friends, they want to know where we're going!"

Tadashi frowned. "They know where we're going, Hiro! It could be straight to our deaths if we aren't careful!"

Hiro's breath got caught in his throat. "D-don't say that." He mumbled. "We'll come back from this quest."

Tadashi turned away from Hiro. "Seeing them will only want me to stay." He said, his voice unsteady.

Hiro understood. He nodded and said, "Okay." He turned around, heading with Tadashi to the archway.

Chiron and Apollo were waiting beside it, Apollo leaning against a tree and Chiron with his arms full of supplies.

"'Sup, guys!" Apollo said, hopping off the tree. Hiro and Tadashi waved at him, both half-smiling.

Chiron smiled as well, though Hiro could tell it was mostly just out of habit. After all, Chiron had seen so many campers go off on quests and never come back. Hiro was afraid that Chiron wouldn’t be seeing him come back, either. “We have some supplies to give you two before you leave camp.” The centaur said, motioning to his arms with his head.

Hiro looked through the pile that Chiron had. He saw a few different weapons, different pairs of clothes, mortal money and drachmas, ambrosia, and nectar. Hiro grabbed half of the load, and Tadashi grabbed the other. They both stuffed the stuff into their backpacks and thanked Chiron.

Chiron sighed. “I can’t believe this is the second quest this year...” he said under his breath.

Apollo closed his eyes and smirked. “Well, at least these two stand a chance. Not like Tambry and Max...”

Tadashi gasped. “T-Tambry and Max were the two that had gone on the quest earlier this year?” He asked, his hand over his mouth.

Chiron looked down. “Yes...” he said. “and you know that they weren’t exactly the strongest of campers. It was doomed to fail, unfortunately, and there was nothing any of us could do to stop it.”

“Hold on.” Hiro said, waving his hands. “Who are Tambry and Max?”

“Two campers that had been there for only a year or two.” Apollo sighed. “Max was one of mine, actually... and Tambry was a daughter of Iris. Both were great kids. They got this almost impossible quest to go on. Something about a river monster?”

“The White Worm of the Mississippi River.” Chiron added.

Apollo nodded. “That.” He said, before continuing. “They found it, and stopped it in its tracks before it came to destroy the camp, but they never returned to camp. They--”

Tadashi shook his head. “They sacrificed themselves for this camp, Hiro.” The way Tadashi said that made Hiro a bit nervous. He sounded determined, almost. Is that what Tadashi was willing to do?

Hiro felt much less sure after that. He was unsure how to respond, and was thankful when Chiron, instead, picked up the conversation. “Alright. I really hate to leave that on such a low note, but you two have to leave, after all.” He motioned his arm towards the archway, and Hiro and Tadashi followed suit.

At the end of the hill, the two turned around. Apollo and Chiron were waving at them, and they waved back. Hiro felt a hot lump in his throat. It felt like he was suddenly leaving another home. Camp Half-Blood, over the weeks, had become a home to him. Now, he really didn’t want to leave.

He turned forward, towards the street, with Tadashi by his side. The two walked past the end of the road, Camp Half-Blood out of view.


End file.
